New Traditions
by SJ-23
Summary: A quick look at Emma's best Christmas ever. A submission for the SQAC1 (Originally posted on AO3)


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: This is a submission for the first SQAC. This is the first thing that I have written in a good two years, trying to get back into my writing. If you are going to criticize the work, I ask that you be polite about it. Happy reading.

No beta, all mistakes are mine.

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On this particular Christmas night, the outside was still, the sky speckled with various sized clouds, leaving enough room for the moon to shine on the fresh snow falling. One home down Mifflin Street stood proud with mismatched decorations displayed on the lawn. Some would say it is very out of character for the Mayor of Storybrooke to have anything other than perfection.

This year was different. This year the Mayor and her son had a new addition to the family tradition, a certain blonde Sheriff.

The year started off as any other, with a single mother doing what she could for not only her town, but he young son. The family routine down pack with very little deviation, until one fateful winter day in mid-February. There had a been an unexpectant snow fall during the night causing temporary road closures, causing schools to close for the day. Regina had a couple of important meetings that could not be missed, staying home was not an option. Granny's was sure to be busy today so her babysitter option was out. There was no choice but to bring Henry with her to work.

Packing comics, her home lap top for movies options, Regina brought Henry with her to work, promising that once her meetings were done they'd head down to the park for some fun.

There Emma found a bored Henry in the Mayor's office, laying across the couch with his head hanging off, viewing the office from an upside-down perspective.

"Hey Kid!" Emma said while, walking into the office and placing a folder on the Mayors desk, the secretary allowing Emma to wait in the office for the late Mayor.

"Hey Sherriff." Henry replied, not moving from is spot.

"Whatch'ya doing there?" she asked while tilting her head in a bit of confusion, noticing the boys face becoming quite red. "Maybe you should sit up Kid, your head looks like it is about to pop."

With a sigh he brought his head back to the couch, letting the circulation in his veins to continues as intended. "I'm bored, mom promised we'd go to the park this afternoon but she isn't back yet."

"I'm sorry Kid, Beth said your mom's meeting is running late due to the weather preventing some of the council people from making it in on time." She frowned a bit at the dejected look on the boys' face. "Anything I can do to help?" She asked with her shoulders raised in awkwardness.

Henry shrugged looking at the coffee table, noticing his comic book thrown carelessly on it. "Can you help me read a comic book? The letters are hard to read." He looked apprehensive, expecting the Sherriff to decline the request.

"Sure Kid! What one do you have?" A little of excitement could be heard in the Sheriffs voice.

"I'm not sure, I'm still learning to read, so I don't have a series of comics I have miss matched ones. Still struggling with understanding the story as a whole." He said while grabbing the comic from the table.

"Well, lets fix that then shall we. Let me see." Emma said while sitting herself beside Henry on the couch. "Thor Seige: Epilogue…hmmm…" she took a quick skim through the book. "Looks like it has potential." She handed the book back to Henry. "Alright little dude lets read."

"I'm NOT little!" Henry said trying to sound appalled. "I'm 7 almost 8". Emma couldn't help but chuckle at his exclamation.

That is how the Mayor found her son when returning from the most dreadful meeting of the day. The Sherriff and her son relaxed on the couch while Henry read out loud the best he could, with Emma trying to explain the point of the dialogue as best she could. To Regina, it seemed like she was putting more effort into helping her son than the school board.

The returning Mayor sat behind her desk and pulled forth the document Emma had left on her desk in preparation for their weekly capacity report meeting.

After the meeting, the Sherriff gave Henry a departing high five. The Mayor and her son soon followed, Regina claiming she was done for the day and took Henry to the park as promised, with dinner at Granny's to follow.

That one late meeting unbeknown to Regina would cause a butterfly effect, changing the course of her carefully planned routine to disrupt their lives in a manner she never would have thought possible.

After losing her late husband before Henry was born, and with potential suiters high tailing it after discovering she was a mother, Regina all but gave up in the romance department.

As the months passed Regina and Henry would run into Emma every now and then while she was on and or off duty. They would always take a few minutes out of their plans and catch up with Emma. By the time April rolled around the small family had a new friend in the Sherriff, who they would invite over for dinner on a weekly basis. Henry and Emma often having heated debates on which comics were better, Marvel or DC. Henry arguing every time that Marvel was superior to DC and Emma should just submit to his reasoning. Emma, arguing that both were equally good in their own ways and insisting that Henry should give DC a chance. Regina, often sitting quietly during these arguments in amusement watching her son stand his ground in these debates with pride swelling in her heart. He may look more like his father, but her certainly had her determination and no-nonsense attitude when it came to things he was passionate about.

Months progressed and the family grew closer with the outings and movie nights. The two women oblivious to path their friendship was taking. An unknown bet circulating around the town on when the two women would wake up and see what was going on.

During the end of the winter, Regina often found her driveway clear of any snow before work. A deed she was sure belong to the Sherriff, which often followed with a thank you dinner. On those nights Henry would insist Emma would read with him before bed time. A tradition that Regina was happy to relinquish to the Sherriff, oblivious to the reason why she didn't mind Emma taking over that particular aspect of the bed time routine she had created for her son.

Emma had finally found her courage at the beginning of May and asked the Mayor out on a date. Regina went to Granny to see if she could potentially watch Henry on a Friday night, stating she had a date. Granny readily agreed to watch Henry and she would be at the mansion at six o'clock Friday evening. Regina had thanked her and made her way out of the Dinner back to the office. When she was out the door, Ruby promptly held out her hand waiting for the payout. Grumbling, Granny removed the envelope containing the bet money and slapping in her granddaughters' hand before marching back to the kitchen, Ruby failing to contain her laughter.

With a great first date out of the way, Regina and Emma went on romantic dates once a month with family dates in between. Henry couldn't have been happier, Emma seemed like a great addition to their family. Sure, Emma and his mom argued on occasion, but never for long. They'd always talk it out and if their relationship continued, the potential for more presents at Christmas was prominent.

May turned in to September with the Sheriffs office prepping for the oncoming winter. Emma taking the Mercedes to the garage to switch out the seasonal tires for winter. Even though they are in a small down, you can never be to careful.

Over the months Emma found herself spending more time at the mansion, helping around, fixing things that she could. Henry usually not too far behind, helping Emma when asked, but he could usually be heard discussing the latest info on any Comic related news. It took a while, but Emma had finally worn him down when for his eighth birthday she loaded him with a bunch of DC comics

Halloween and thanksgiving passed in a blur with December creeping up on the small family. Henry was determined to make this the best Christmas ever, especially after Emma had informed them that she had never been apart of any sort of family Christmas. They were going to decorate the house as a family. No professional decorator like previous years. Henry's orders.

The first weekend of December had the family head out of town to the nearest mall and shop for any sort of Christmas decoration that Henry had to approve. Seeing the smile on her boys' face Regina couldn't say no to him, no matter how awful the house may look.

With decorations laid out around the house, Henry took to directing Emma and Regina on where they should place things. The colour schemes the traditional red and green flowed through the house. Stockings on the fire place, with a third one for Emma, something that had the blonde become slightly emotional.

It was safe to say that to Henry the house has never looked as good. He felt like he was in a true family now. His mother was smiling more, was starting to work a little less than what she was. They were happy, not that they weren't before, but this was a different happy.

The plan was that Emma was going to spend the holiday with them. Starting on the 23rd, she'd be over so they could start the Mills Christmas tradition first thing Christmas Eve. The day started with the traditional present opening of a new set of pyjamas, book and movie. The day spend in the new pyjamas with a hardy breakfast containing scrambled eggs, bacon sausage and home fries. Emma was prohibited from helping in the kitchen per Regina's firm request after burning multiple dinners. Once breakfast was complete they went to the living room to have a Marvel and DC movie marathon. Lunch consisted of, to Emma's delight, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Which then broke up to lounging around reading the book each got in their morning gift. Regina cooked a lasagna for dinner with various vegetables, to the displeasure of both Henry and Emma. With more movies after dinner, try as he might Henry couldn't stay up to see Santa, his eyes failed him and closed at ten o'clock, leaving him out for the count.

Emma took him to his bedroom upstairs with Regina trailing close behind to tuck the boy in and start their Saint Nick duties for the night. They placed all the presents under the tree, ate the cookies and drank the now warm milk.

Henry found them the next morning cuddled on the couch in front of the fire place, a few small coals still burning. Coming closer to the couch he noticed that his mom was awake softly running her fingers up and down one of Emma's arms.

"Good morning mom, Merry Christmas!" Henry said in a gentle voice, not wanted to wake Emma up.

"Good morning my little prince. Merry Christmas. Did you sleep well?" she smiled to her son.

"I did yes," he proclaimed while climbing on the couch laying himself across his mom and Emma, deciding that he would wake her up, it was Christmas morning after all. But Emma proved to be a deeper sleeper than he expected. He couldn't resist and proceeded to open her eyelids while not so quietly whispering her name. "Eeeemmmmmaaa! PSSSST Wake up Emmaaa. It's Christmas Emma."

Groaning Emma buried her face in the back of Regina's neck refusing to wake. "Too early!" you could hear a mumble from the blonde.

Regina chuckled and basked in the love she felt coming from Emma as she tightened her hold on Regina. "What shall we have for breakfast this morning?" Before Regina could finish her question there was a duo cry of pancakes that was followed by a high five from both parties. "Please let me up darling so that I may make you children some breakfast." She tapped Emma's arm in hopes it would get her to release the hold she had on her.

"I am anything BUT a child, thank you very much, I am ALMOST 30." Emma said while releasing Regina to let her up, which forced Henry to lay fully on Emma while giggling at her. With a quick kiss on Emma's lips Regina made her way to the powder room on the main floor to clean up before making breakfast. Henry continued to lay on Emma's back when she rolled to her stomach, reaching for the TV remote to find some Christmas cartoons they could watch in the meantime.

After one 20minute show Emma declared it was time to help Regina. "Come on Hen, lets go set the table for your mom, we can watch more cartoons later." Emma said while patting his knee to prompt him to move. With a groan Henry rolled off Emma and stood to make his way to the kitchen to grab the cutlery and napkins, leaving Emma to grab plates and glasses from the cupboards. As she entered the kitchen she made her way to Regina to give her a gentle kiss on the check.

With the table set, Henry and Emma went to washup for breakfast in fear of the wrath of Regina. With breakfast over and the dining room and kitchen cleaned, they made their way to the living room to begin opening the gifts. Henry getting an assortment of books and movies, a couple new shirts and the best of all, two RCA trucks, with Emma excitedly explaining they could make a race track out in the back yard come spring.

Regina received a new pyjama set courteous of both Emma and Henry, with a new set of earrings for the office strictly from Emma. Regina then in turn gave Emma her gift from her and Henry, I brand new black leather jacket. Not to replace her god awful red one according to Regina, but to give her options for the upcoming spring weather. With a smile, Emma leaned over and gave Regina a long and slow kiss, stating that she loved the jacket. Knowing Regina was the one to pick it out.

For the rest of the morning the family lounged in the living room, Regina and Emma cuddling on the couch watching traditional Christmas movies and Henry reading his new comic books.

Shortly after lunch Regina left Emma and Henry to their own devices and proceeded to make dinner. Because it was Emma's first real family Christmas she decided to go with a traditional turkey dinner. With Regina not needing help with dinner until a bit later, Henry and Emma went outside in the fresh snow to goof around. Snowmen were made without any eyes of buttons, Emma refusing to use Oreos as the decoration stating it was appalling that Henry would waste Oreo's for such a thing. Laughing, Henry decided to retaliate by throwing a snow ball right at Emma, hitting her in the face. Never backing down from a challenge, they proceeded to have a snow ball fight. By the time they were done, their winter gear was soaking wet with the cold starting to seep down to their clothes. Emma suggested they return inside to warm up in the living room with some hot chocolate, which Regina prepared for them while they took turns taking a warm shower and finding nice warm clothes.

Closer to dinner Emma and Henry once again set the table and aided Regina with the remainder of dinner. Once everything was on the table, Regina gave the turkey carving utensils to Emma, claiming the task of carving the turkey now belonged to her. Henry beamed at his mother and Emma, this was a sure sign Emma was going to be here to stay, his mother never let anyone else carve the turkey. Not that they had many guests over the years, but when they had, carving the turkey was strictly Regina's task.

With a lump in the throat from emotion, she gently took the carving utensils and got to it. Carefully carving out even portions of the turkey, not wanting to screw up her new job. With dinner on its way to being done, the family enjoyed light conversation on the holidays and what will be happening once they returned to the daily grind of small-town life.

Once dinner was complete they cleared the table and cleaned the kitchen. Once Regina gave the final nod of approval the trio made their way upstairs to change into their pyjamas for the traditional movie marathon on their local public broadcasting channel. It didn't take long for the young boy to start to doze off, prompting Regina to send him off to bed with the promise of a tuck in. Both women followed the boy upstairs to get the little prince in bed for the night. Regina placing the blankets around him and kissing his forehead, wishing him a good night with sweet dreams. Emma sat herself on the side of the bed with her back against the head board with the first Harry Potter book in hand from the stack of presents from earlier in the morning. Once two chapters have been read, Emma placed the book on the night stand with a promise to read more another night. She then leaned down to kiss his forehead much the same way Regina did wishing him a good night.

"Good night Em. I love you." Henry said has she was making her way out the door. She paused at the door with her hand hovering over the light switch, with a small smile. "I love you too Kid. Sweet Dreams." Shutting the light off and leaving a crack open in the door Emma made her way down stairs.

Turning the corner, she found Regina leaning against the wall beside the big bay window, with a mug of tea watching the light snow fall this quiet night. Quietly she came behind Regina and snacked her arms around her torso, pulled her against her and kissing her neck. "Hey baby." Emma places her chin on Regina's shoulder casting her eyes to the quite night beyond the window. Regina leaned her head back on Emma's shoulder tilting her head so her forehead was touching Emma's cheek. "Hello my love. Did you have a good Christmas?"

"I did. It was the best Christmas I've had. All thanks to you and the kid. Thank you for including me in your family traditions. It was amazing." Emma said while lifting her head to give Regina a quick peck on the lips. "Did you want to head up to bed?"

"Not yet, I have one more gift for you." Regina said while removing herself from Emma's hold. Placing her mug on the side table beside the couch, Regina made her way to the tree and took a small box out of the branches and made her way back to Emma. I didn't want to give this to you earlier in case the response was negative. I didn't want to get Henry's hopes up. Regina extended her hand to give Emma the small wrapped box. "Merry Christmas darling."

Emma took the box and with confusion showing through her eyes, gently ripped the wrapping paper revealing a small light box. Opening the box was a key. Emma froze for a moment, the seriousness of the situation sitting in her heart. "Regina?" she asked. "Is this…?" She trailed off.

"It is a key to the house Emma. I've spoken with Henry and we agreed that we'd like you to move in with us. The days that you are not here are hard. We often count down the days until the weekends when you will be spending the night. These past couple of days have cemented the fact that you Emma Swan, will always belong here with us. Will you do us the honour of joining our family?" Regina replied nervously. Wringing her fingers together in hopes Emma wouldn't decline this request. "I know we haven't been together long Emma, but this feels right, and I don't want to let this moment pass us."

Emma chocked back a sob, looked to Regina with a blinding smile and tears falling down her cheeks. "I would love to move in with you two." With her smile returned they leaning in for a kiss, sealing the deal. Emma released Regina's lips, but not moving to far away, keeping their foreheads together. "Best Christmas Ever."

"Lets go my love." Regina claimed another kiss from Emma. "Lets go to our bed and celebrate, shall we?" Regina said with a devious smile gracing her face.

"Mmm I like the sound of that. Our bed." Emma said right before capturing Regina in a searing kiss. Picking her up from her thighs making her way to their bedroom.

New traditions never looked so good to Regina.


End file.
